Home of Ukrainian Eurovision contestant destroyed

The home of Ukrainian Eurovision contestant Khrystyna Starykova has been destroyed by Russian shelling in the city of Myrnograd.

The 19-year-old is currently in Switzerland rehearsing for her performance with the band Ziferblat, but posted photos of her damaged apartment block in the Sviltly neighbourhood.

"Home. And I dreamed so much of returning home," she captioned the post, which showed the building shrouded in smoke, with its windows blown out and several balconies collapsed.

"Fortunately, all my relatives and friends are alive and well," she said, and vowed to perform at Eurovision next week "for the sake of our country".

"[I want] to show what a strong people we are."

In an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, Starykova said she had almost anticipated the destruction of her home.

"Four months ago, my grandmother lost her home - it was just such a big hole," she said. "Then my aunt lost the roof over her head.

"I understood that maybe I could be the next one and, unfortunately, it happened. It's very terrible news. I had really hoped to go back."

In a new Instagram post on Tuesday morning, she shared further footage of the bomb-damaged streets of Myrnograd.

"I always went home from vocal lessons this way," she wrote in the caption. "It was my favourite way home."

Ziferblat will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest with Bird of Pray, a song telling the story of Ukrainians who have been separated from their loved ones by the war with Russia.

"It's about our problems we go through, the tragedy for the last three years," singer Valentyn Leshchynskyi told Eurovision fansite Wiwibloggs.

"To be honest, the last eleven years."

Starykova is a backing vocalist for the band, affectionately known as "bird girl" as she handles the song's high notes.

She previously competed in the Ukrainian version of the TV talent show The Voice, reaching the grand final, where she performed a cover of Duncan Lawrence's Eurovision winner, Arcade.

Born in Donetsk, she spent her childhood in Myrnograd, living through fierce battles between Russian-supported separatists and Ukrainian government forces in the region.

"When it all started, I was just in shock," she later told local news outlet The Eastern Variant, recalling the heavy shelling that hit Myrnograd in 2015.

"The whole sky lit up and we started running to hide in the corridor," she said. "That was the first time I felt it all."

The family later moved to Kyiv, where Starykova studied at the renowned Glière Music College - but she always intended to move back to her hometown.

In a TV interview, she said it was important to go ahead with her Eurovision performance as a display of resilience.

"Despite what happened to me, I want to portray our song in a good way," she said.

"And just to convey our main message, that everything will be fine.

"Despite our troubles, we will survive. I'm holding on for us."